Three men convicted of separate murders are set to be executed on Thursday, marking the first time the United States has carried out three executions on the same day since January 7, 2010. The executions are scheduled to take place in Alabama, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.
In Alabama, Jeremy Williams, 42, is facing lethal injection for the 2021 rape and murder of five-year-old Kamarie Holland. Prosecutors stated that Williams, after consuming methamphetamine, forced the child to ingest the drug before sexually abusing and strangling her. Her body was discovered in his basement. Russell County District Attorney Richard Chancey described the crime as "a level of evil." Williams was also a suspect in the 2005 death of his infant daughter in Alaska, with charges filed in 2022. Alabama's execution of Williams would be its first of the year.
In Tennessee, 66-year-old Anthony Darrell Hines is scheduled for execution for the 1985 murder of 54-year-old motel maid Catherine Jean Jenkins. Hines had checked into the motel and subsequently raped, robbed, and fatally stabbed Jenkins while she was working. Her body was found in a motel room, and her car keys and wallet were stolen. He surrendered to police and was sentenced to death in 1986.
Oklahoma is set to execute 70-year-old Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez for the 2003 murder of his girlfriend, Olimpia Fisher, at their Oklahoma City home. Fisher was planning to end their relationship when Cuesta-Rodriguez shot her in one eye, and then shot her in the other eye after an eight-minute interval. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond stated, "He made her suffer because she dared to live beyond his control." Cuesta-Rodriguez has expressed remorse and stated he does not want clemency, requesting to "pay for what I did."
If all three executions proceed, it will be the first triple execution in 16 years. In 2018, three executions were scheduled for the same day, but only one was carried out due to reprieves and procedural issues. As of this report, eleven states have carried out executions in 2026, and if Tennessee and Alabama proceed, six states will have had executions this year.